This disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine, and more particularly to a component having at least one tip vortex creation feature.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. In general, during operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases flow through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
Each of the compressor section and the turbine section may include multiple stages. Each stage typically includes alternating rows of rotating structures called rotor blades followed by stationary structures called stators. The rotor blades create or extract energy (in the form of pressure) from the core airflow that is communicated through the gas turbine engine. The stators direct the core airflow to the blades to either add or extract energy.
Some gas turbine engines incorporate cantilevered stator designs. Cantilevered stators include a stationary structure that is affixed at a radially outer portion and unsupported at a radially inner portion. A portion of a rotating structure surrounds a tip of each cantilevered stator. A clearance may extend between the tip and the rotating structure. Gas turbine engine efficiency may depend on minimizing this clearance.